Matter and Its Interactions

Chemistry

Scientists Say: Chiral

Many biological molecules come in a left- and right-handed form — and biology plays favorites.

Chemistry

Experiment: Blow the best homemade bubbles

What’s the best recipe for blowing the most impressive bubbles? Let’s find out.

Chemistry

A new map of Africa sheds light on the origins of enslaved people

Mapping the element strontium across the continent is helping track down the birthplaces of enslaved Africans brought to the Americas.

Physics

Scientists Say: Lepton

Leptons are a quirky class of particles. Besides electrons, they include ghostly neutrinos and hefty muons and tauons.

Earth

Let’s learn about the carbon cycle

The total amount of carbon on Earth doesn’t change. But what form those carbon atoms take is constantly changing.

Physics

This weird ice may exist on alien planets

Scientists used high pressure and heat to create plastic ice, which has qualities of both ordinary ice and liquid water.

Chemistry

Scientists Say: Nucleosynthesis

For this nuclei-forging cosmic process, the Big Bang was just a way to get started.

Math

Scientists Say: Dimension

The simple concept of dimensions has inspired sci-fi creators to wrinkle time and launch into hyperspace.

Math

His love of math led to a career in quantum computing

James Whitfield began his career when quantum computing was still in its infancy. Today, he’s helping to make it more accessible to educators, researchers and others.

Chemistry

Let’s learn about chocolate

Humans have been making chocolate for millennia. Now scientists are investigating how to make this tasty treat more abundant and nutritious.

Chemistry

Behold the world’s thinnest pasta

Made from white flour and formic acid, the nanofibers average just 370 nanometers across. That’s two-hundredths the thickness of a human hair.

Chemistry

Experiment: How to keep fruit slices fresh

Let’s explore why fruit tends to brown over time and how to keep it looking fresh.